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What is the difference between reach and impressions?

Reach counts how many distinct accounts saw a post; impressions count how many times it was shown, including repeats. The gap tells its own story.

Glossary · Published Sep 2, 2026

The short answer

Reach is the number of distinct accounts that saw a post at least once. Impressions is the total number of times it was shown, including a single account seeing it multiple times. Impressions will always be equal to or higher than reach, and the gap between them is people who saw the post more than once.

What the gap between the two numbers tells you

A large gap between reach and impressions means a meaningful share of viewers saw a post more than once. That can be a positive sign for video content getting re-watched, or a neutral effect of a post appearing multiple times in someone's feed, depending on the platform.

Neither number alone says whether a post worked

Both reach and impressions describe exposure, not impact. A post can reach a large audience and still earn little engagement underneath it. Both numbers are useful as context for engagement metrics, not as results to optimize for on their own.

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